Tag: 1980s

Events

Seminar to mark 40th anniversary of the Wapping dispute

The Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School is holding a day-long seminar marking forty years since the Wapping dispute. The seminar will take place on Saturday 24 January and it will be possible to attend either online or onsite. This event will commemorate the year-long struggle of workers for their jobs and trade union rights and reflect on its legacy. The Wapping dispute began when Rupert Murdoch’s News … Continue reading Seminar to mark 40th anniversary of the Wapping dispute

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Steven Cox (Liverpool John Moores) on the legacy of Labour Party Young Socialists

My dissertation focuses on the individual and political legacy of the Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) with particular emphasis on the period 1979 – 1991. This period covers the ideological polarisation of Britain under Thatcher’s premiership. It was also a time when the LPYS grew dramatically to nearly 600 branches by 1985, only to contract and ultimately be closed down by the Labour Party in … Continue reading Steven Cox (Liverpool John Moores) on the legacy of Labour Party Young Socialists

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Labour history news

Home Secretary sets up statutory inquiry into 1984 ‘Battle of Orgreave’

The government has announced an independent statutory inquiry into the 1984 ‘Battle of Orgreave’, a key event in the year-long miners’ strike during which thousands of police and miners clashed, leaving 120 people injured. In all, 95 pickets at the South Yorkshire coking plant were arrested and charged with riot and violent disorder. But all charges were dropped after evidence was discredited. There has since been … Continue reading Home Secretary sets up statutory inquiry into 1984 ‘Battle of Orgreave’

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Jamila Squire (Westminster) on international solidarity with Italian political prisoners: 1979-84

My MA dissertation research focuses on a wave of state repression of Italian militants from the late 1970s to mid-1980s. On 7 April 1979 several Italian militants and intellectuals of Potere Operaio (workers’ power), Autonomia Operaia (workers’ autonomy), and unaffiliated activists critical of the Italian Communist Party, were arrested for participation in the armed group ‘The Red Brigades’ and the suspected kidnapping and killing of … Continue reading Jamila Squire (Westminster) on international solidarity with Italian political prisoners: 1979-84

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Emily Thorpe (Durham) on photographic representations of coalfield women in the 1984-85 miners’ strike

My dissertation investigates how professional photography both presented and produced the figure of the coalfield woman during and after the 1984-85 miners’ strike across Yorkshire and County Durham. After attending the inspiring third annual John L. Halstead Memorial Lecture delivered by Natalie Thomlinson in November 2024, I became interested in understanding how photographic material and practices helped to construct and consolidate the ‘heroic narrative’ of … Continue reading Emily Thorpe (Durham) on photographic representations of coalfield women in the 1984-85 miners’ strike

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Freya Willis (Oxford) on social care workers’ experiences of work, gender and class, 1979-2010

My PhD investigates the lives and labours of social care workers in England and Wales between 1979 and 2010. Between 1979 and 1999, care assistants were the fastest growing sector of employment, increasing by 419%, while industrial jobs saw the greatest decline. Care work was, in many ways, the model of post-industrial working-class employment, characterised by low-paid, feminised, precarious, and emotionally demanding labour. My PhD … Continue reading Freya Willis (Oxford) on social care workers’ experiences of work, gender and class, 1979-2010

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Events

PHM offers end-of-the-miners’-strike archive exploration

People’s History Museum (PHM), Manchester, is offering an opportunity to join its archive team in delving into the museum’s miners’ strike collections. The event takes place on the 40th anniversary of the final day of the 1984-1985 miners’ strike and tells the stories of a defining event in Britain’s history. Visitors can also explore the galleries where they will see objects such as a poster featuring the … Continue reading PHM offers end-of-the-miners’-strike archive exploration

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Events, Grants

Symposium: the history and legacy of the miners’ strike of 1984/5

A one-day symposium on the history and legacy of the miners’ strike of 1984/5 takes place at National Mining Museum England in Wakefield on 22 February 2025. The event is organised by National Mining Museum England and supported by the Society for the Study of Labour History. Attendance is free, but please register at the link below if you wish to attend. Programme 10am – … Continue reading Symposium: the history and legacy of the miners’ strike of 1984/5

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Events

Solidarity Forever: 40 Years of LGSM

People’s History Museum is hosting an evening event to mark the 40th anniversary of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM); an organisation that played a unique role in the events of the 1984 to 1985 miners’ strike. Taking place on Thursday 27 February, from 6pm to 9pm, as part of a programme of events for LGBT+ History Month, Solidarity Forever: 40 Years of LGSM … Continue reading Solidarity Forever: 40 Years of LGSM

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Events, Grants

Beyond the Fragments: 45 Years On

Earlier this year, a one-day conference was held to mark 45 years since the publication of the seminal socialist-feminist text, Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making of Socialism. Co-authored by Sheila Rowbotham, Lynne Segal and Hilary Wainwright, the book argued that the Women’s Liberation Movement offered a unique insight for socialist organising at the end of the 1970s, found not just in theory, but … Continue reading Beyond the Fragments: 45 Years On

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